Resilient retainer for digger tooth assembly



March 15, 1955 E. L. LAUNDER 2,703,938

RESILIENT RETAINER FOR DIGGER TOOTH ASSEMBLY Filed NOV. 4, 1949 0 X CAL/l F 4o INVEN I finds A- In)? er United States Patent RESILIENT RETAINER FOR DIGGER TOOTH ASSEMBLY Ernie L. Launder, Montebello, Calif., assignor to H. & L. Tooth Company, Montebello, Califl, a corporation of California Application November 4, 1949, Serial No. 125,524

Claims. (Cl. 37-142) This invention has to do with a structure applicable to a digger tooth or in the nature of an attachment for a digger tooth, and it is a general object of the invention to provide a simplified, improved, dependable construction of this general character.

The structure embodying the present invention is characterized by a blade holder that is applied to a tooth or the like, which holder has a blade receiving opening extending therethrough longitudinally of the tooth and has a forwardly projecting lip portion that engages under the part of the blade that projects forward from the holder. The holder is in the nature of a block with rearwardly projecting ribs that are spaced apart laterally of the structure and the holder is preferably secured to the tooth to be rigid therewith to be, in effect, an integral part thereof. The holder is preferably welded to the tooth.

The blade has a forwardly projecting working part that is dressed or finished to have the desired digging or cutting action and the portion engaged in the opening of the holder is in the nature of a tongue that projects rearwardly and into the opening and preferably has wedging engagement with converging walls of the opening. The tongue portion of the blade is divided into side sections by a recess or opening that enters the tongue from the rear end thereof. A retaining means releasably holds the tongue of the blade in engagement in the holder and preferably includes a spring latch carried in the recess provided in the tongue of the blade and having an upwardly projecting head that engages the back of the-block.

An object of this invention is to provide an effective, dependable, and improved means releasably retaining a blade in a holder.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure of the general character referred to in which a spring latch is carried by a tongue of the blade and engages the holder block in which the tongue is engaged.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction of the general character referred to which is simple and inexpensive of manufacture, secure and dependable in action, and very easy both to engage and disengage by proper manipulation.

The various objects and features of my invention will be fully understood from the following detailed description of a typical preferred form and application of the invention, throughout which description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an implement in the form of a bucket having a plurality of teeth projecting therefrom each of which carries structure provided by the present invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view taken as indicated by line 22 on Fig. 1 and showing one of the teeth with the parts attached thereto and with a portion of the structure broken away to show in section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal detailed sectional view of the structure, being a view taken as indicated by line 3-3 on Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken as indicated by line 4--4 on Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken as indicated by line 55 on Fig. 3.

The present invention is concerned with features applicable to digger teeth or the like and for purpose of example it is shown applied to or incorporated in structure on a tooth provided on a bucket. It is to be understood that the invention may be varied or modified depending upon variations in tooth construction or the service to be performed by the structure.

- 2,703,938 Patented Mar. 15, 1955 ice In the case illustrated the tooth A projecting forward from the implement or bucket B carries a holder C which supports a blade B, the blade being retained in the holder C by retaining means D.

The tooth A is shown as an elongate forwardly projecting element with a flat top 10 and a flat bottom 11. The top 10 and bottom 11 converge forwardly and join at a tip portion 13 of the tooth.

The holder C is shown applied to the top 10 of the tooth A at the forward end portion thereof and involves, generally, a block-like body 15 with a forwardly projecting lip 16 and with rearwardly projecting ribs 17. The structure or body formed by the block, lip and ribs is rigidly attached or secured to the tooth A and in practice is preferably made a rigid or integral part thereof, as by welding at W. In the particular case illustrated the block 15 is located to occur above or on the forward or tip portion of the tooth A and the lip 16 projects forward from the block and is forward of the tooth. The ribs 17 are spaced apart laterally of the structure and extend rearwardly from the block to rest on the top 10 of the tooth A. The block and the lip 16 projecting forward therefrom receive and hold the blade B. The block 15 has a central longitudinal opening 20 which receives the blade, the opening being characterized by flat parallel top and bottom walls 21 and 22, respectively. The side walls 23 of the opening 20 are fiat walls which converge rearwardly as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The opening is confined to the block 15 while the lip 16 projects forwardly from the block, and the top 25 of the lip portion 16 is flat and occurs in the same plane as the bottom 22 of the opening 20 to form a continuation of the bottom, as shown in Fig. 3. Flanges 29 project upwardly from the lip 16 at the side or edge portions thereof, extend longitudinally of the structure and receive the blade between them as shown throughout the drawings.

The blade B is an elongate flat or plate-like element with a forward portion 30 which rests on the top 25 of the lip 16 and projects forward therefrom and has its front end 31 dressed or finished to have the desired cutting or digging action. The blade has a tongue portion 35 which projects rearwardly from the portion 30 and which enters and is held in the opening 20 of the block 15. The tongue portion 35 has flat parallel top and bottom walls 36 and 37, respectively, and it has fiat side walls 38 which converge rearwardly and which are so pitched as to seat on or against the walls 23 of the opening 20 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The tongue portion 35 is preferably substantially coextensive with the block 15 lengthwise of the structure so that the tongue occupies the opening 20 in the block.

In the preferred form of construction a notch-like opening or recess 40 enters the tongue from the rear end 41 thereof and is located centrally of the tongue. The recess 40 divides the tongue into two spaced side sections 42, as shown in the drawings.

The retaining means D provided by this invention is a latch means preferably a spring latch means that involves a spring arm 50 carried in the recess 40 provided in the tongue of the blade and having an upwardly projecting latch head 52 which engages behind the block to prevent forward movement of the tongue relative to the block. In the preferred form of the invention the spring arm 50 is an elongate member anchored or secured to the blade B at the bottom or forward end of the recess 40 as by welding at 55 The arm 50 operates freely between the side walls of the recess 40 and when the structure is engaged it seats or heats up against the top wall 21 of the opening 20. The arm 50 projects somewhat rearward from the tongue 35 and on its rear end it has the upwardly projecting head 52 so located as to engage behind the rear end face 56 of the block 15. The face 56 as shown in the drawings is preferably pitched upward and forward and the head 52 is likewise pitched or shaped so that the head has hooked engagement with the block.

To engage the blade with the holder the tongue 35 with the latch arm thereon is introduced into the opening 20 and moved rearwardly until the tongue 35 is seated in the opening 20 and the head 52 of the latch is engaged behind the back 56 of the block. With the blade thus engaged it is securely held in place during operation of the structure. To disengage the blade from the holder it is merely necessary to depress the head 52 disengaging it from the back 56 of the holder whereupon the blade can be moved forward relative to the holder disengaging the tongue from the opening 20.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of my invention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specific details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variations or modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a holder applicable to a digger tooth and having an opening therethrough, an elongate blade with a forwardly projecting working part and a rearwardly projecting tongue rigid with the working part and having a longitudinal opening therein, the tongue being engaged in the opening in the holder, and a resilient retainer carrier by the tongue in the opening in the tongue and having one end fixed to the blade and the other end adapted to engage the holder, the working part, tongue and retainer being substantially parallel with each other and all extending longitudinally of the blade.

2. In combination, two units, one a holder applicable to a digger tooth to be rigid therewith and having an opening therethrough, the other unit including an elongate, rigid blade with a forwardly projecting working part and a rearwardly projecting rigid tongue in line with the Working part, the tongue being engaged in the opening and having a central recess extending forwardly in it from its rear end, and a rearwardly projecting spring latch carried by the tongue and extending longitudinally thereof in said recess with its forward end fixed and its rear end adapted to releasably engage the rear of the holder.

3. In combination, a holder applicable to a digger tooth and having an opening therethrough, an elongate, rigid blade with a forwardly projecting working part and a rearwardly projecting tongue in line with and projecting rearward from the working part, the tongue having a recess extending longitudinally thereof and open at the rear end of the blade, the tongue being engaged in the opening, and a resilient retainer carrier in the recess in the tongue and extending longitudinally of the tongue, the retainer having its forward end fixed to the blade and its rear end adapted to latch to the holder.

4. In combination, a holder applicable to a digger tooth and having an opening therethrough longitudinally of the tooth and having an exposed, rearwardly facing part, an elongate, flat, rigid blade carried by the holder and having a forwardly projecting working part and having a rearwardly projecting tongue in line with the working part and projecting rearwardly into the opening, there being a recess in the tongue extending forward in the tongue from its rear end dividing the tongue into like side sections, an elongate spring arm with its forward end anchored to the blade, the arm extending rearwardly in the recess and having a head on the rear end thereof adapted to engage the rearwardly facing part of the holder.

5. In combination, a holder applicable to a digger tooth and having an opening therethrough longitudinally of the tooth, an elongate, flat, rigid blade carried by the holder and having a forwardly projecting working part and having a rearwardly projecting tongue in line with the working part and projecting rearwardly into the opening, there being a central recess extending forward in the tongue from its rear end dividing the tongue into two like side sections, a spring arm projecting rearwardly in the recess and having its forward end anchored to the blade, and an upwardly projecting head on the rear end portion of the arm normally projecting above the tongue guild adapted to engage a rearwardly facing part of the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 266,057 Sheneman Oct. 17, 1882 934,792 Card Sept. 21, 1909 1,643,472 Rorabeck Sept. 27, 1927 1,802,106 Bosworth Apr. 21, 1931 1,816,710 Young July 28, 1931 2,092,311 Hosmer et a1. Sept. 7, 1937 2,238,081 Soberanes Apr. 15, 1941 2,250,904 Colfman July 29, 1941 2,339,128 Younie Ian. 11, 1944 2,385,395 Baer Sept. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 650,224 France Sept. 17, 1928 

